Just Her Luck
by keelhaulrose
Summary: Hermione muses on how her luck has changed recently.


**This is a little Drabble I wrote for the Hermione's Nook 'Happy Birthday, Hermione!' fest. My prompt was 'luck'.**

__Luck truly is a matter of perspective, __Hermione mused as she leaned against the balcony rail of the luxury hotel room. The crisp autumn breeze blew some of her unruly curls across her face as she watched London slowly come to life just a short ways down the river.

It's true about luck. For example, winning the lottery would certainly qualify someone as lucky until they joined the ranks of those worse off from their winnings. Inversely, one might consider missing a flight to be unlucky unless that plane crashes, at which point their tardiness is the ultimate form of good luck. It wasn't too long ago that Hermione had experienced her own case of disguised luck.

Three years after the Battle of Hogwarts Hermione had what might be considered a run of bad luck: she was threatened by rogue Death Eaters and had to move several times before she was finally able to truly hide in Los Angeles. She started working in a hole-in-the-wall bar owned by a cousin of Ted Tonks who knew nothing of her new employee other than those who killed her cousin wanted her dead as well, though she couldn't even fathom a guess at what either Ted or Hermione had done to deserve such a fate, and as good a worker as Hermione was she was notoriously tight-lipped about her past. She had been there eight months when what she considered her worst stroke of bad luck came strolling in the door wearing an overpriced suit and speaking in an obnoxiously smug accent. At first she hadn't concerned herself with him, she thought he was another arrogant prat with more money than sense, and with a ridiculous shtick to boot: he claimed to be the real Lucifer. She hadn't thought much of him until she felt him trying to manipulate her mind, at which point she panicked, thinking she had been discovered and would have to flee. It was only when he showed her in a way that left no doubt that he was not a liar that she finally calmed somewhat, at least about having to leave quickly. At the time she debated whether her run in with the Devil was better or worse than Death Eaters, but soon she had convinced herself of the answer: it was much worse. The only luck worse than meeting the Devil was to have him take an interest in her, and he apparently had nothing better to do than to insert himself in her life. For months she could hardly go to the grocery without him suddenly appearing, prodding into her past, trying to convince her to use her magical powers for something other than slinging drinks to working class stiffs, which he found insanely boring. She attempted to keep him at arms length, turning down job offers at Lux, ignoring his incessant texts, and warding her tiny flat against his unwanted intrusions, but every so often he would show some almost human emotion and she reluctantly admitted (to herself, never to him) she found him somewhat fascinating. Through it all, though, she considered him a temporary annoyance. Her hope was that the Death Eaters would be caught and she could return home, but there was always the possibility of her having to run again. When Harry delivered the news that a sting operation had not only failed, but compromised her position she didn't think her luck could get any worse, but it was in that she realized that her luck had been deceptive: having a celestial being (and his demonic minion) taking such a liking to her and the Devil having an unsatisfied desire to dole out punishment turned out to be a perfect combination. Lucifer hid her well and laid a trap for the Death Eaters, and within 48 hours of Harry's warning all six rogues presented themselves to the Aurors, begging to be taken to Azkaban. After that she let her guard down around Lucifer, trying to be careful not to make a mistake like forgetting who she was associating with, but enough that a friendship grew between them. And, despite her best efforts at being rational about the rather unorthodox situation, the friendship turned into something else, though what exactly that was she wasn't sure.

The sound of the balcony door opening behind her drew her attention. She turned and saw Lucifer casually leaning against the door frame, swirling a glass of Ogden's finest, which he had taken a liking to on Hermione's return trip to England. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he looked over her somewhat disheveled appearance, and the hint of a smirk on his lips, the whole sight sending a wave of warmth crashing over Hermione, settling in her lower abdomen as the satisfying ache between her legs seemed to diminish, retreating as her body realized it would most likely get no rest anytime soon.

"Good morning," he said slowly as his eyes met hers.

"It could be," she replied, trying to keep her face natural, though she could feel a smirk of her own tugging at the corner of her mouth.

He chuckled, placing the glass on a nearby table before pulling her to him and trying to snog her senseless. Her last thought before succumbing to him was, __I truly am lucky __.


End file.
